ISIBINDI INSIGHTS

Happy September everybody! I hope everyone had a great summer and is pumped for the fall! This is the first fall in my life that I am not going back to school; either to learn or to teach. WOW! However, I am still finding myself in a lot of different school settings and working/playing with some pretty cool kids. This week I had a chance to check in on a partner-program that is running at a “Safe Park” near the center of Galeshewe (the largest Township in Kimberley). This “Safe Park” is called Isibindi and it is open to any age children to come at anytime of day. They can come to Isibindi to play, learn, eat or assitance in other aspect of their lives. Grassroot Soccer has trained some of the Isibindi employees in our "SKILLZ" curriculum in the hope that they can give some life-skillz lessons to regular visitors between the ages of 11 and 16. It is really fascinating to see some of the kids at Isibindi Safe Park. My understanding is that most kids here have some serious hardships in the lives; lack of parents, malnutrition, neglect, etc. They come to Isibindi to escape some of these problems. Most of the kids are really young (also super-cute); about 4 to 10 years old but there are a handful of young teenagers. This group was in their 4th SKILLZ lesson and learning a little about some HIV/AIDS facts and myths. The lesson is called “Fact vs. Nonsense”. The kids are paired up and start all together in the center circle of a small soccer field. They are read some statements about HIV/AIDS i.e. “HIV/AIDS is spread by holding hands, sharing food and water”. The kids then have a few seconds to confer with their partner and then must run to the goal they think is right. One goal says “FACT” while the other goal says “NONSENSE”. Skillz coaches read about 10 statements and discuss the reasons for them being fact or nonsense after the kids have chosen their side. It is often very surprising what side they end up on; many kids (and adults) here know very little about HIV/AIDS. There are a lot of very horrible myths and stigmas ingrained in the South African culture about the disease. A prominent one being that if you become infected with HIV/AIDS you can cure yourself by sleeping with a virgin. These types of myths and lies are huge issues in the fight against HIV/AIDS. It is essential that these kids have a chance to hear some of these myths and then talk about the facts so they can better understanding of the disease. After the lesson, the children had some extra time (and a lot of extra energy) before dinner. I got to play the most intense game of red-rover, red-rover of all time. About 50 kids ranging from ages 4 to 16 all holding hands and screaming to be the next one “sent-ova” there were a lot of laughs, tumbles and luckily only a few tears when they couldn't break through the "wall". Just amazing to see these kids play with such joy with all the adversity they endure. Okay, more next week. Caliboha (Thanks),

PG